Head to Part 1 if you missed the explanation, but it should be pretty easy to follow along.
ESPN actually surprised me a bit as I mostly watched the first 10 picks on the leader. Chris Berman was an ass, and added nothing but bad jokes to the program…but you expected that. The Monday Night team was pretty uneventful although the did look comfortable together….but you expected that too. Basically everything was per code except one thing…..Keyshawn Johnson.
Oh boy was I wrong about him. There isn’t a player on this earth that is as prepared as he is for a television role after he/she retires. Tiki Barber looks like “boom goes the dynamite” in comparison. The highlight for me was undoubtedly the moment when they had him interview Dwayne Jarrett. This is a guy that is going to be trying to take your job starting….oh I dunno…..about NOW! KJ conducted a great interview, and was professional and insightful the entire 1st Round.
ESPN’s grading is after the jump….
(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
NFL Network Grading:
Chris Berman- Washington Redskins- D-
Okay now that we’ve gotten through that….is there anyone in this country…nay, the world that thinks this man is clever? Hell no, and that’s why I’m comparing him to the Skins. Landry isn’t a bad pick and I like Blades in the later rounds, but how do you NOT draft a single person for the Defensive Line?!?! That makes zero sense. Just like Berman the Skins just have no idea what the Draft is about.
I chose the Houston Oilers for Mel because the last time he was exciting was when they were a team. His pre-draft analysis is unrivaled, but over the years he’s gotten more and more dull. Come on Mel….you have one thing in life to care about….let’s not pretend it’s a funeral.
Maybe he just doesn’t have the energy or care anymore. That’s kinda how I felt about the Titans/Oilers picks. They obviously did zero research on Chris Henry.
Steve Young- St. Louis Rams- C
Seriously…they’ve had 63 picks from 2000-2006. Only one of them is/was an impact player, (Stephen Jackson) the rest….horrible. In fact if I was a Rams fan I’d create a video with Trung Canidate and Eric Crouch clips to show the front office.
(I partially blame Steve’s decline on the craziness of Michael Irvin)
Normally pretty strong Chris disappointed me this year. Just the ‘Hawks he was poised to make himself standout, and he fell flat. I don’t know if he was hungover or what, but he couldn’t put a sentence together to save his life. It’s pretty bad when you do this for a living, and Keyshawn looks 10x smarter than you during a broadcast.
(How uninterested in life does he look in that picture?)
Defense Defense Defense. Just like the Steelers they had no offense. They did look comfortable together, but there were moments where I just shook my head. The easiest comparison is the Steelers trading up in the 4th round to take a Punter. That’s right a punter. That position is a perfect analogy for what Tony Kornheiser did with 90% of the draft. He punted it.
The dude left after the Brady Quinn pick. If it wasn’t for him dropping he might have left after Jamaal Anderson was selected.
(Also, does anyone else think that Ron Jaworski acts too much when he’s on camera? He over accentuates a ton of words and has that Morning Show Radio Voice.)
They kind of surprised me. I was telling people last week that Michael Bush will be the steal of the draft. I mean if some team is willing to take an injured Ted Ginn 9th then he shouldn’t have been around for Day 2.
Suzy surprised me in the same way. Was solid on Day 1….didn’t do anything crazy (Jamarcus Russell), but on Day 2 she shined. If you didn’t watch…Kolber took over the lead from Berman for the later rounds and blew him out of the water. Great job by her….in fact she could easily replace Leatherface.
The grade drops to an A- for KJ and Cleveland for one small reason for each. First, Keyshawn should have heckled the Jets fans a bit more. He acknowldged the boos only once. I would have liked him to say something more….joke about their picks a bit. Second, you can’t give the Browns a perfect grade because they had to give up a first rounder in 2008 for Brady Quinn.
If they do well this year and that pick is in the middle of the first then it was worth it.
Keyshawn and Suzy saved the broadcast for ESPN. The coverage as a whole wasn’t bad, but it was nothing to write home about. The NFL Network beat them in just about every facet of the broadcast
ESPN DRAFT COVERAGE GRADE: C-
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